ESPN's Top 100 MLB Players of All Time

[Ben Grimm]

ESPN just released their community effort of listing in order the 100 greatest baseball players in history. They currently have #75-100 along with 25 honorable mentions. I can update list once they complete it in a few days. The article can be found >>HERE<<.

Top 100 Players

1. Babe Ruth
2. Willie Mays
3. Barry Bonds
4. Ted Williams
5. Hank Aaron
6. Ty Cobb
7. Roger Clemens
8. Stan Musial
9. Mickey Mantle
10. Honus Wagner
11. Lou Gehrig
12. Walter Johnson
13. Greg Maddux
14. Rickey Henderson
15. Rogers Hornsby
16. Mike Schmidt
17. Cy Young
18. Alex Rodriguez
19. Albert Pujols
20. Joe Morgan
21. Joe DiMaggio
22. Frank Robinson
23. Randy Johnson
24. Tom Seaver
25. Tris Speaker
26. Steve Carlton
27. Johnny Bench
28. Jimmie Foxx
29. Christy Mathewson
30. George Brett
31. Cal Ripken Jr.
32. Bob Gibson
33. Roberto Clemente
34. Ken Griffey Jr.
35. Nolan Ryan
36. Mel Ott
37. Pete Rose
38. Derek Jeter
39. Eddie Mathews
40. Carl Yastrzemski
41. Pedro Martinez
42. Eddie Collins
43. Brooks Robinson
44. Sandy Koufax
45. Warren Spahn
46. Al Kaline
47. Lefty Grove
48. Nap Lajoie
49. Chipper Jones
50. Pete Alexander
51. Ernie Banks
52. Jackie Robinson
53. Rod Carew
54. Wade Boggs
55. Reggie Jackson
56. Yogi Berra
57. Willie McCovey
58. Robin Yount
59. Bob Feller
60. Ozzie Smith
61. Tony Gwynn
62. Ferguson Jenkins
63. Hank Greenberg
64. Harmon Killebrew
65. Eddie Murray
66. Gaylord Perry
67. Mariano Rivera
68. Jeff Bagwell
69. Frank Thomas
70. Juan Marichal
71. Ivan Rodriguez
72. Bert Blyleven
73. Roberto Alomar
74. Barry Larkin
75. John Smoltz
76. Carlton Fisk
77. Paul Molitor
78. Mike Piazza
79. Robin Roberts
80. Charlie Gehringer
81. Duke Snider
82. Kid Nichols
83. Mark McGwire
84. Willie Stargell
85. Manny Ramirez
86. Gary Carter
87. Frankie Frisch
88. Cap Anson
89. Jim Palmer
90. Craig Biggio
91. Paul Waner
92. Roy Halladay
93. Tom Glavine
94. Jim Thome
95. Sammy Sosa
96. Tim Raines
97. Ron Santo
98. Joe Cronin
99. Al Simmons
100. Phil Niekro

Honorable Mentions

101. Luke Appling
102. Joe Jackson
103. Eddie Plank
104. Dave Winfield
105. Curt Schilling
106. Whitey Ford
107. Johnny Mize
108. Rafael Palmeiro
109. Don Sutton
110. Harry Heilmann
111. Pud Galvin
112. Ryne Sandberg
113. Bill Dickey
114. George Sisler
115. Tim Keefe
116. Dennis Eckersley
117. Sam Crawford
118. Lou Boudreau
119. Rube Waddell
120. Billy Williams
121. Ed Delahanty
122. Edgar Martinez
123. Don Drysdale
124. Arky Vaughan
125. Roy Campanella

[Bothrops Atrox]

Honorable Mentions

107. Johnny Mize

Mize and Plank way too low. Arky Vaughan embarrassingly low. Stargell, Galvin, and Sutton are too high. not as terrible as these mainstream top 100's are usually. So far, at least.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I'm not sure I agree with Santo being in the top 100.

[PVNICK]

Sosa, even without factoring out PEDs should be nowhere near a top 100, particulalry when you include pitchers. To lump him at the head of a grouping containing Raines and Al Simmons is just wrong. But on the other hand acknowledging the existence of Al Simmons and that Raines is top 100 is a lot more sophisticated than I would have expected.

[dgarza]

Roy Halladay in the Top 100? When did he become better than Eddie Plank?

[dgarza]

But on the other hand acknowledging the existence of Al Simmons and that Raines is top 100 is a lot more sophisticated than I would have expected.

I'm not sure if I'm more insulted when they devaluate 19th cent/ all time greats like Anson and Keefe or when they lazily ignore them altogether.

[leewileyfan]

If that's the best they can do, I'll pass.

[dgarza]

Arky Vaughan embarrassingly low.

I wonder if they read their own "Fun Fact" on Vaughan...

[GiambiJuice]

Roy Halladay in the Top 100? When did he become better than Eddie Plank?

How many Cy Young awards did Plank win?? I kid, I kid.

On a more serious note, for being the undisputed greatest hitting catcher of all time, Piazza is way too low. He should probably be top 50 - and he certainly shouldn't be ranked lower than Fisk, IMHO.

[Nimrod]

Ty Cobb thought Joe Jackson was the greatest natural hitter ever,Walter Johnson named him as the toughest hitter he ever faced,the Babe copied his swing,Ed Walsh said he hit the ball harder than anybody he ever saw.He hits .356 lifetime but I guess the folks at ESPN know better when they don`t even rank him in the top 100.Say it ain`t so Joe!(so far this ESPN top 100 list doesn`t make my top 100 list of top 100 players lists)!

[GiambiJuice]

Ty Cobb thought Joe Jackson was the greatest natural hitter ever,Walter Johnson named him as the toughest hitter he ever faced,the Babe copied his swing,Ed Walsh said he hit the ball harder than anybody he ever saw.I guess the folks at ESPN know better when they don`t even rank him in the top 100.Say it ain`t so Joe!

Longevity counts for something too. We can always play the "what if" game, but Shoeless Joe was out of Baseball at age 32, with fewer than 2,000 hits under his belt, and it's his own fault.

[BigRon]

I'm looking for really wacko ratings- not ones that most would say are +/- 10 or 15 spos tof where they should be.

Already mentioned- Mize at 107. Without any war credit I see him as a 50-60 position player, which would put him in the top 75-85 when pitchers are counted. With war cedit I see him as a top 35 position player, which would put him around top 50 overall.

Nichols- if he's a top 15 alltime pitcher, as many here seem to feel, he's in the top 50 overall- pretty far above number 82.

Vaughan- even if he's overrated a bit on some sites, he's still a top 3-4 alltime SS, which certainly puts him in/around top 50 position players, and no lower than 70-75 overall.

Without seeing the entire list we can't do some meaningful comparisons yet, but I think there will be a few headscratchers in there.

Overall, better than the team of the century voting.

[brett]

We'll see where Jeter ends up. I am not sure that Jeter tops Appling yet. Also will see about Koufax. I think that they put Dimaggio 5th at CF in a show behind Mays, Cobb, Speaker and Mantle though Puckett was 9th (That was prime 9, not sure if its the same people).

Santo is pretty consistently ranked 6 or 7 at third base, so top 100 does make sense to me although my theory about there being few HOF third basemen is just that so many guys played there for a portion of their careers.

I have Fisk, Piazza and Carter near the very top of the catchers list all time (and all about equal) so it will be interesting to see if they go more with old timers in Cochrane, Dickey and Hartnett there. Vaughan is a top 40 player and Mize is a top 60 player.

[ol' aches and pains]

Roy Campanella at #125, last man on the list.

[BigRon]

Roy Campanella at #125, last man on the list.

It's clear that Campanella is getting zero credit for time missed due to the color line/WW2. Campanella was as good as any catcher in ML history but his career was short, started late, and plagued by injuries.